| Project by Joedcatman | posted 11-19-2009 05:38 AM | 2670 views | 0 times favorited | 9 comments |  |
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I just had tons of fun rebuilding this old silverware box that I bought at Goodwill for $3.99 plus tax. The outside of the box is finished with a dark red mahogany oil. I gutted the inside and put in a false bottom to hold the chisels. My dividers and calipers live under the chisels. I simply glued in some gray felt and added two latches.
The calipers aren’t Chinese, they are made in Sweden, England, Germany and the USA.
The other one that I paid $2 for at the same Goodwill store, I used “as-is”, just refinished the outside and added a brass hasp.
They each hold Chinese chisels but they work if you don’t mind sharpening them a little more often.
Has anyone tried to temper/anneal any of these Chinese chisels? I’d really be interested in knowing how that worked out for you. I have some other ones that aren’t in fancy boxes I might try the heat treating procedure on. Maybe I should put this as a forum topic?
-- JoeR Nothing that I could make will ever be perfect but I'll use it anyway.
9 comments so far
scrappy
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#1 posted 11-19-2009 08:16 AM
Fantastic rebuild of Goodwill find! I saw one the other day but it still had about half the silverware. They wanted too much for it that way.
Just a little re-work of the dividers and refinish, there you go. Great job. Allways good to think outside the box. Thanks for the ideas.
Keep it up.
Scrappy
-- Scrap Wood's the best...the projects are smaller, and so is the mess!
a1Jim
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#2 posted 11-19-2009 08:18 AM
very cool Joe
-- https://www.artisticwoodstudio.com/videos
OhValleyWoodandWool
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#3 posted 11-19-2009 07:01 PM
Ha – great thrift store find!
Doug
-- "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then Success is sure." Mark Twain
RexMcKinnon
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#4 posted 11-19-2009 07:57 PM
hey scrappy, I think joe was thinking inside the box on this one. LOL
-- If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!
mtkate
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#5 posted 11-19-2009 11:08 PM
Great idea. I should go hunting…
Joedcatman
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#6 posted 11-20-2009 12:21 AM
I have always been thinking outside the box, I brought a 10’ long 6’ high carpet dispenser cart home on the back of my pickup a few years ago. It was made out of 2” box beams all welded together with 6 – 9’ 6” x 2” pipes to hold carpeting. I bought it at the Boeing surplus store for $35.00 near Seattle. My wife looked at it and asked what I was going to do with that “piece of junk.”
I simply replied: “That is your new carport.” About a week later, after some arm-breaking cutting with a hacksaw and a bit of welding with the old buzz box, we had a 14” x 22’ carport. Roof metal, wood, and cart cost less than $300 total.
Some of my best buys are from thrift stores and garage sales. Amazing what you can do when you’re not limited by a lack of imagination. Now if I could play a musical instrument, carry a tune in a bucket, or paint pictures, I’d really be talented. But alas, the artistic side of my mind simply didn’t develop.
Maybe that is why my hat always slides off to one side?
-- JoeR Nothing that I could make will ever be perfect but I'll use it anyway.
mtkate
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#7 posted 11-20-2009 01:42 AM
Lumberjocking and finding new uses for old items IS creative.
hunter71
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#8 posted 01-25-2010 02:32 PM
I like the way you think, guess I will add you my buddy list.
You asked about heat treating chisels and turning tools. I took some used plainer blades. These are made from HHS. and welded them to Made in China tools. I now have some custom scrapers and cutting tools. Works for those cuts that you and you only make.
-- A childs smile is payment enough.
Joedcatman
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#9 posted 01-26-2010 02:33 AM
Great idea hunter. I brazed a few carbide tips to a couple of tools and it worked out super good, I’ll have to try some planer blades, I have some extra ones that aren’t much good for anything else. Can’t ever throw anything that is possibly useful away. Maybe that explains why my shop is so full.
-- JoeR Nothing that I could make will ever be perfect but I'll use it anyway.
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